Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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138. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 301 of 29 November 2017, if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the staff of most section 39 organisations had the same cuts imposed on them as their colleagues in the HSE; if he has made provision for increased funding for section 39 organisations in order to ensure the restoration of workers' pay and conditions in line with their colleagues in the public sector; if the HSE has made representations to his Department on the need for increased funding to cover expected pay and pension restoration for persons in these organisations in line with their public sector colleagues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52358/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As previously outlined, under section 39 of the Health Act 2004, the HSE has in place Service Level Agreements with voluntary providers which set out the level of service to be provided for the grant to the individual organisation. Any individuals employed by these section 39 organisations are not HSE employees and therefore, the HSE has no role in determining the salaries or other terms and conditions applying to these staff.

Employees of Section 39 organisations are not public servants and are therefore not encompassed by the Public Service Stability Agreements. This means that they were not subject to the FEMPI legislation which imposed pay reductions. Section 39 organisations are not obliged to pass on any pay reductions to their staff members or to provide for any pay restoration that may be negotiated as part of these public service agreements. While it is understood that pay cuts were imposed on Section 39 employees, it is not clear that these cuts were applied in a universally consistent manner across all the Section 39 agencies. It is also important to recognise that this group of organisations within the health sector is just one element of a larger complex issue which could have significant cost implications for the Exchequer across the public services as a whole.

I can again confirm that it is a matter for Section 39 organisations to negotiate salaries with their staff as part of their employment relationship and within the overall funding available for the delivery of agreed services.